ENLIST HELP
Even though it may feel like it sometimes, cleaning the house is not only your responsibility. Everyone that lives in the house is accountable for the state of it. Don’t take the bulk of the cleaning chores on yourself. Make everyone help you. Teach children from the time that they are young that they, too, are important members of the family and that their help is just as important to see that things run smoothly. Even children in pre-school can help by learning to put away their own toys, sorting the laundry, dusting the furniture, and fixing pillows on the sofa. Grade school aged children can learn to make beds, gather laundry from different rooms, put out fresh towels, sweep floors, rake leaves, water gardens and plants, set and clear tables, help unpack groceries, wash windows and mirrors, straighten out books and put away clutter, and take out the trash. Middle school-aged kids can mop, wash dishes, wash and fold laundry, help with younger children’s feedings and diaper changes, help prepare salads, microwave quick meals, organize books, tapes, cd’s, video games, and polish furniture. High school and college aged children can babysit siblings, run errands, wash cars, cook and serve meals, help with the more heavy-duty kitchen and bathroom cleaning and do yard work. Husbands, of course, can help with any of these things. If you and everyone else in the house is pitching in to do the cleaning chores on a daily basis, it will make it easier on everyone.
CLEAN ON THE GO
When you stop to use the bathroom, give the toilet a quick brush or give the sink a quick wipe. When you grab that cup of coffee, wipe down the kitchen counter while it's heats. Running to the laundry room for your pants? Bring a load with you on the way. When you sit down to watch the news, fold some towels or sort the children’s toys. When vacuuming the living room, grab the attachment and quickly take the dust off the ceiling fan. Taking the time to do these little chores on the run will leave any time you have left to tackle bigger projects.
PRIORITIZE
When the mess seems to be growing and overtaking the house, decide what jobs are most important to get done quickly. If you’re down to your last pair of underwear, do a load of laundry– someone can pick up the kid’s toys later. Can you use your nail to cut a trail of soap scum in the bath tub? Take care of that; no one will mind if they have to look in spotted mirrors for another day. Have you run out of cups and dishes? Get a load in the dishwasher and nuke some frozen pizzas for dinner, then serve them on paper plates. So what if you can’t make the bed today? No one has to know.
ORGANIZE
It may be an old adage, but when there is a place for everything, it makes it a lot easier to put everything in its place. Try to assign everything that is commonly used a spot that is easily accessible and always available. Take advantage of closet organizers, shelving, file folders and storage units.
One of the easiest way to keep clutter under control in a large, busy household is to keep things in plastic storage containers or baskets. Craft supplies, school supplies, office supplies, cleaning supplies, toys, sewing supplies, baby needs, bills with stamps and envelopes, tools– anything that fits in a box or basket that will need to be put away. Put shelves in closets to hold the boxes. When you need to use the items, drag out the box and dig into it for what you need. When you are done with things, simply throw them in a box and stick it back up on the shelf.
KEEP LISTS
Always have a small pad or book in your bag so that when you sit to wait for a bus, or have a few minutes at lunch, you can jot down any notes to yourself on things that need to be done or gotten. Make little notes for other people in the household if it is something they need to do and slip it to them when you see them. Some of the most troublesome and inconvenient chores that disrupt our days are the ones we forgot to get to or to tell someone about until the last minute. If you’re busy, don’t always rely on your memory. Get into the habit of writing things down, and checking your lists often.
STOP, DROP AND CLEAN
If you find 20 minutes here or a half hour there, stop everyone in the house who is not doing anything important and have a quickie-clean up time. Set a timer for 10, 15, 20, or 30 minutes. For that time, the objective is for everyone to do as much as possible. Assign tasks, or send a person into each room to do what needs most to be done. After the time is up, everyone can stop and go back to what they were doing. Whatever doesn’t get done will just have to wait. You may be surprised to see just how much a family can accomplish in 20 minutes if they know they can get it over quickly and go on with their day.
RELAX
Have you ever heard of anyone on their death bed regretting that they didn’t get all the stains out of the rug, that their stainless steel appliances had smudge marks or their laundry didn’t always smell April-fresh? Sure, cleanliness has some importance, but it isn’t the only thing important in life. Try to balance all of your needs.
Don’t be hard on yourself, or your family. Life gets busy, houses get messy. Sometimes you will be able to keep up with the cleaning needs better than other times. Don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself falling behind. Just keep up your stride as best you can, and things will eventually get back on track. Don’t expect everyone to always do a perfect job– be willing to settle for “good enough.”
Don’t forget to take care of yourself as well. Allow yourself time to rest and refuel. Sometimes we run on empty trying to get things done, instead of taking the time to recharge our battery so we can be more productive later.
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